Although Zheng Yuanyuan is a year younger than Xu Zhi, she is currently unmarried and her style of dress leans towards cuteness. As for herself, Xu Zhi couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly, "A person's status determines their attire."

The family carriage was already parked outside the second gate. Honglian, carrying the box containing the birthday gift, boarded the second carriage with Honggu, Baishu, and Aying. Xu Zhi, along with Zheng Yuanyuan, Granny Wang, and Granny Lu, boarded the larger carriage in front. The group drove the two carriages out of the side gate and headed towards the north of the city where the Shen family lived.

The Shen family lived in the north of Yuezhou City. Yuezhou City covered a large area, but there was a saying that the north was noble and the south was rich, while the west was poor and the east was new.

The area north of the city is the largest in terms of land area, yet it has the fewest inhabitants. The reason is simple: this area is where many large families reside. The Shen family alone, with its direct branches occupying over a hundred acres in the north of the city, has the Shen Mansion as its largest residence. It is said that the Shen family's ancestor commissioned the most famous craftsmen from Jiangnan to design and build it many years ago. Over the years, the Shen Mansion has been expanded several times, resulting in the magnificent gate and the rows of buildings of different styles behind it.

After Xu Zhi's coachman handed over the invitation, she was led by someone through the wide-open side gate. Once inside, instead of stopping and getting off at the second gate, she was led along a wide alleyway according to the invitations from each family. Xu Zhi looked out from behind the carriage curtain and saw some carriages parked on the other side of the alleyway, but it seemed that the people inside had already gotten off. This alleyway must have been specifically for parking carriages.

The carriage drove all the way to the innermost part of the house, where there were no more carriages parked. It stopped in front of a rather grand-looking gate. As soon as Xu Zhi got out of the carriage, a very respectable-looking old woman greeted her with a smile and asked, "Are you ladies from the Zheng family?"

Granny Wang gave a slight curtsy and said, "That's right."

The old woman said, "Honored guest, please follow this way."

After passing through that door, a garden suddenly opened up before me.

The garden is lush with vegetation, dotted with artificial hills, and filled with colorful flowers in full bloom, making it look very vibrant.

As the old woman walked, she said, "Let Madam Zheng know that after our third young lady returned, she stayed at Qingxin Xiaozhu by this garden. Our old lady knows that you are our third young lady's savior and has always wanted to express her gratitude to you in person. It just so happens that it is the old lady's seventieth birthday, so our young lady said that she invited you to come and meet her and have a good time together."

As Xu Zhi walked, she listened to the old woman's words with a smile. After walking for a while in the garden, she saw a small, two-courtyard house standing on the side of the garden. The small courtyard had white walls and black tiles, and it looked really lovely.

From afar, they could see Granny Lin supporting Feng Wan'er standing at the courtyard gate. When they saw Xu Zhi and her party approaching, Feng Wan'er quickly walked over. Upon seeing her, Xu Zhi smiled and hurried a few steps to Feng Wan'er, taking her hand and saying with a smile, "Sister, are you feeling much better?"

Feng Wan'er said with a smile, "Thanks to my sister's life-saving medicine, I'm fine now."

Lin Mama smiled and said, "Let's go inside and rest for a while, and then we can go together to wish the old lady a happy birthday later."

Feng Wan'er smiled and said, "Look at me, I've been so busy talking to you since I saw you, little sister. Please come in, little sister."

This little courtyard is truly a place for people to cultivate their minds. Upon entering, you'll find that the pillars and window frames have all been repainted, and some flowers and trees have even been replanted in the courtyard.

After seeing Xu Zhi enter, Feng Wan'er looked around and said with a smile, "Grandmother is kind to me and has arranged for me to stay here."

Xu Zhi smiled and said, "The old lady feels sorry for my sister."

Upon entering the room, Xu Zhi looked around carefully and saw that it was filled with very fine items. Even the two pillows on the daybed under the window were made with the new floral patterns that had just appeared this spring.

After Lin Mama invited everyone to sit down, she arranged for the maids serving in the courtyard to serve tea. Once the tea was served, she led the maids to wait outside. Feng Wan'er and Xu Zhi were sitting in the room. As for Zheng Yuanyuan, she had been taken to the back courtyard by Lu Mama before entering the room. Lin Mama had secretly told Lu Mama that their young lady had something to say to Madam Zheng.

Xu Zhi looked at Feng Wan'er with great concern. Feng Wan'er smiled and said, "Sister, I've been staying here for a few days. My grandmother has been very kind to me. However, it's not just my grandmother who lives here in the Shen family. There are also some uncles and even cousins. They all have wives and children. My grandmother had this courtyard renovated long ago so that I could stay here when I came. But this Qingxin Xiaozhu is a courtyard that all the younger generation in the family want to live in. It was just given to me like this. How can my cousins ​​not have any thoughts about it?"

Xu Zhi could understand that Feng Wan'er was not really the granddaughter of the Shen family. She was just an outer granddaughter of the Shen family. In the eyes of the legitimate children in the mansion, she was just an orphan living under someone else's roof.

Feng Wan'er said, "In the end, I came here to avoid trouble. Although my maternal grandmother never told my uncle the truth, I lived here for a period of time when I was very young. Now I am using the name of my third uncle's child, but who can guarantee that my identity will not be exposed?"

Xu Zhi held Feng Wan'er's hand and said, "Sister Feng, I understand your suffering, but do you have any plans now?"

Feng Wan'er said, "Sister, I think after Grandmother's birthday, we should take Granny Lin and leave. Even if we just go to a temple or monastery outside the city, it would be better than staying here and having to put up with other people's opinions. What I'm most afraid of now is that I will bring trouble to Grandmother's family. You know why I'm doing this, sister. There's no guarantee that someone won't use me or even Grandmother's family as a raft to curry favor with others."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi frowned and said, "Sister Feng's thinking is extremely thoughtful. In that case, let's act quickly to avoid arousing suspicion from those with ulterior motives later."